Submarine periscope



May 6 1924.

y A. STEINLE SUBMARINE PERIscoPE Filed June 19. 1923 Patented May 6, /1924.

UNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE.-

"AnoLF'sTEINLE, or JENA, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR To THE FIRM or CARL zEIss, or

' JENA,4 erauvrANY.v c i i sUBMARINErERIsooPE;

l Application inea June' i9, 1923. serialv Np; 645,361.5

To all whom t may concem:

Be it known that I, ADoLr Srnrn'w, a citizen of Germany, and residingat- Jena, Germany, have invented a new-and useful SubmarinePeriscope(for which I have filed an 'application in Germany July 29, 1922:), ofwhich the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a submarine peris'cope whose ocular isfitted to a casingy rotatably supported on' the boats hull in whichcasing a tube containing the entrance reflector of the periscope is sodisposed as to participate in rota-tions of the casing and as to bedisplaceably disposed relatively to the casing in the direction of itsaxis coinciding with the axis of rotation of the casing.

For periscopes of this kind it has been suggested to construct a gearingin such a way that the displacements of' the tube may be effected by amotor rigidly set up in the boats hull without the motion ofdisp-lacement and of rotation of the periscope affecting each other.According to the invention there is obtained a gearing which isconsiderably more simplified than those hitherto suggested if the demandthat the motion of displacement and of rotation are independent of oneanother be restricted to such an extent as to warrant the independenceat least approximately. This restricted demand is fulfilled if thegearing which serves for displacing the tube contains a wormwheelsupported on the casing and engaging in a worm, whose axiscoincides with the axis of rotation of the casing. The Worm may eitherbe sup-ported on the boats hull or on the casing or both on the boatshull and the casing. If provision be made that in the gearing whichserves for actuating the worm wheel, inclusive of the motor serving forthe actuation, the friction is slighter than inthe worm gearing, t-heworm participates in any displacements of the casing. The independenceof the motions'is then entirely warranted.

The annexed drawing shows a constructional example of the invention.Fig.` l is a longitudinal section on line l-l of Fig. 2, Fig.- 2 isanother longitudinal section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is across section on the line 3 3 of Fig. l.

On a base al assumed to be rigidly connected to the boats hull a acasing b is supported rotatably about an axis X-X. For

ings f which are fitted different.

simplicityssake the actuation for the rota,- tion is not shown in thedrawing. y.lVithin the casing in the direction ,of theV axis a tube cwhich conta-ins the yentrance reflector (not visible in the drawing) ofthe periscopeand which is provided'at its lower end with 'a reflectingplrisin c1 which transmits the luminous rays emerging from the tube c inthe downward direction to an ocular b1 disposed at the upper part of thecasing b. A worm (l is supported on the base al and on a. cross head b2,screwed to the casing 1n such a way that its axis coincides with theaxis of rotation X-X. A bevel wheel (l1 supported on the worm-shaft dengages in a bevel wheel e1 supported on the base al, the shaftl eoofthe bevel wheel c1 being assumed to be coupled to a motor. In the worm dengagetwo worin wheel geareach to the nave f1 of a rope pulley f2. Thetwo rope pulleys are rotatably supported on the casing b in such a waythat their axes Y-Il and Y2-Y2 are parallel to each other and lie onsides of the axis X-X- Over each of both rope pulleys f2 runs an endlessrope f3 which rests upon a pulley f* sup-ported on the top of the casingb. The tube c is suspended at the two ropes f3 by means of a4 cross barc2.

The periscope is drawn in and out by actuating the worm al from theshaft e0. If the friction in the worm gearing be greater than in thegearing actuating the worm, of which gearing only the bevel wheels d1and el are shown in the drawing, in the event of a rotation of thecasing b about the .axis

-X the worin wheel gearings f drive the worm which entails a slightrotation of the gearing c ll, e1 inclusive of the motor shaft but doesnot affect the lifting motion of the tube c. It the conditions offriction be inverse, i. e. if with a rota-tion of the casing b the wormremains unaffected, the worm wheel gearings f experience owing to theirmeshing with the worm al a slight rotation about their axes Yl-Yl andY2-Y2 respectively` which rotation is` however, so insignificant thatboth rotation and displaceinentmay practically be considered independentof each other.

I claim: i

1. In a submarine periscope a casing, means for rotatably supportingthis casing ZJ' there .is supported displaceably the casing and a wormon a boats hull, an ocular fitted to this casing, a tube adapted tocontain at its upper end an entrance reflector and having its axiscoincidingy with the axis of rotation of the casing, the tube beingdisplaceably disposed relatively to the casing in the direction of theseaxes, means for coupling the casing and the tube for joint rotation, anda gearing adapted to displace. the said tube in the said directionandcontaining at least one worin Wheel rotatably disposed on engaging inthis worm WheeL the axis of which coincides with the axis of the casing.

2. In a submarine periscope a casing, means for rotatably supportingthis casing on a boats hull, an ocular fitted to this casthe casinging,"a. tube adapted to contain at its upper end an entrance relectorand having its axis coinciding with the axis of rotation of the. casing,the tube being displaceably disposed relatively to the casing in thedirection of these axes, means for coupling the casing and the tube forjoint rotation, and a gearing adapted to displace the said tube in thesaidl direction and containing at least one Worm Wheel rotatablydisposed on and a Worm engaging in this Worm Wheel, the axis of whichcoincides with the axisof the casing, the friction in the worm Wheel andthe Worm being greater than that of the other parts, of the gearing.

ADoLF sTEiNLE.

